Grissel Hernandez Medication Management, PMHNP-BC

My path began twenty-four years ago as a combat medic in the US Army. This led to a nursing career in intensive care and critical care medicine where I treated those living with chronic illness, such as diabetes, heart failure, and renal failure as well as oncological and HIV-related complications. While my primary role was gratifying, I was not satisfied by the treatment outcomes and lack of preventive measures that would improve overall prognosis and quality of life. I realized that the common denominator among those with the poorest health outcomes was the prevalence of untreated behavioral health issues. As a result, I redirected my focus and specialized in adult psychiatry and substance use disorders. I have been working for the past sixteen years with ambulatory chronically ill clients in a multidisciplinary setting consisting of primary care practitioners, infectious disease specialists, social services, dentists, OB-GYN providers, and behavioral health therapists.

I focus on treating the "person" rather than the "illness" and give special consideration to the person's spiritual, cultural, and personal beliefs regarding health, illness, and the psyche. Using a biopsychosocial model, symptomatology will be assessed to indicate the appropriate diagnosis and develop a treatment plan. Our treatment plan is a client-provider collaborative agreement that incorporates a functional medicine approach with integrated psychotherapy modalities tailor-made to the individual's needs and goals.

I strongly believe in the practice of ongoing and never-ending continuing education as well as networking through national and global psychopharmacology conferences and functional medicine consortiums.

I have a longstanding affinity for the evolving study of psychoneuroimmunoendocrinology (otherwise known as the "general adaptation syndrome"). I am intrigued by the role of stress on the neural, immune, and hormonal responses in the pursuit of halting the progression of chronic illness. I am extremely enthused by the implications of this study on the aging process and the prospect of improving the quality of life across the lifespan.